


Grown, Possibly Matured

by raendown



Series: Follower Milestone Gift Fics [1]
Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-05
Updated: 2021-02-05
Packaged: 2021-03-17 06:00:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,884
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29220621
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/raendown/pseuds/raendown
Summary: Getting dragged along to places he didn't want to be wasn't new to Madara, not with a best friend like Hashirama. Meeting someone again that he hadn't seen in years and instantly falling in love? That one was definitely newer.
Relationships: Senju Tobirama/Uchiha Madara
Series: Follower Milestone Gift Fics [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2145417
Comments: 37
Kudos: 167





	Grown, Possibly Matured

**Author's Note:**

  * For [RookieDrawer](https://archiveofourown.org/users/RookieDrawer/gifts).



> Prompt word: effete

“I cannot believe I let you drag me out here.” 

Hashirama blinked over at him before smiling widely. What a doofus. Did he ever stop smiling?

“No need to be so grumpy, my friend. It’s a celebration! Enjoy yourself!” His ever-present smile grew impossibly wider as he snatched something off the tray of a passing waiter. “Don’t you want any food? It’s free, I checked.”

“Might as well. If I get nothing else out of this I’ll at least have a full belly without paying for it.”

“That’s the spirit!” 

Letting his sigh of disgust blow the hair away from his face, Madara snagged his own passing treat and let his eyes scan the gardens without much interest. It was a nice place. When he’d graduated from college a few years back the ceremony had taken place in the auditorium on campus but Tobirama’s university was one of those fancy big money ones that all the rich families sent their kids to for clout more so than an education. Of course they just happened to have a massive sprawling garden just perfect for outdoor spectacles like this one. He still didn’t understand how a family like the Senju could afford this school. Either Tobirama had the marks to get some very impressive scholarships or every member of their family had agreed to sell at least one of their kidneys to help him pay for it. 

“Why am I even here?” Madara shovelled the little morsel in to one side of his mouth and spoke from the other, ignoring a very prim looking woman in pearls giving him a horrified look. “I haven’t seen your brother since, what, high school? Earlier? I could care less about that knobby-kneed little asshole.” 

“Tobi hasn’t got knobby knees,” Hashirama protested. 

“He did the last time I saw him.”

“Oh. Oh yeah, he did get a little gangly when he finally hit that growth spurt, didn’t he? Ha ha! I remember now! Well he’s grown up a lot since then and I just...I just needed someone here to help me be proud of him!”

Since that was one of the stupidest things he’d ever heard there was no shame in saying so. “That’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard. If you want someone to come be proud of him wouldn’t you bring, oh I don’t know, family? You’ve got two other brothers. Or that woman of yours, isn’t she close to him too?”

Hashirama wilted like a flower, as dramatic as he’d been the day they met all the way back in middle school. 

“But our whole family is away on vacation because Tobi didn’t even tell any of us when he was graduating! I wanted Mito to come but she couldn’t get out of work on such short notice and he’d never say anything but I just know he’ll love it so much better when he sees there’s people here to celebrate with him!”

“What was he even in school for again? Something yuppie, obviously.” 

Because his best friend was an idiot who couldn’t read a tone to save his life, Hashirama practically danced off his own feet with pride as he crowed, “A double major! Oh I could just burst! He completed a double major in political science and international relations!”

Madara stared. 

“He went to school...for politics? He’s going in to  _ politics _ ?” 

“Yeah!” 

“Oh great. Wonderful. He was an annoying kid but that brain of his did have some potential. Now he’s gonna waste it.” 

Hashirama stopped bouncing to cock his head, bemused. “What do you mean?”

“I mean, you know, what good are politicians really? They all talk a big game and they all wear their fancy suits but I’ve never met one who wasn’t entirely full of shit. Every one of them is basically an over-refined waste of space.” 

“Didn’t you tell me once that you wanted to grow up and be the mayor?”

Face suddenly much too hot for the cool weather around them, Madara growled and gave his friend a mighty shove. “Keep your mouth shut!” 

“So mean!” 

Talking about someone he hadn’t seen since they were all still growing in to their own limbs wasn’t exactly Madara’s idea of a good time. Changing the subject to the plans they had made for a beach day that weekend was much more interesting. A little fast talking, a bit of wheedling, and it was possible he might be able to talk Hashirama in to camping out the night without that terrifying fiance of his. Mito was a strong woman, definitely exactly the sort of person someone like Hashirama needed. Madara still didn’t like her. He always got the impression that when she looked at him she wondered what her fiance saw in him and it made his skin itch every time. 

It took another half hour but finally the ceremony began and all of the gathered family and friends were invited to find a seat. Though Madara had been calling the area gardens inside his head it was more like an outdoor amphitheater of some kind with ascending rows of benches carved in to the natural rock. It sort of reminded him of something out of ancient Greece, actually, and he hated a little that it impressed him all the more for it. 

“Ooh, there they are!” Hashirama grabbed his sleeve in excitement, all but lurching out of the seat he’d only just settled in to point at the thick wave of black robed young adults all marching out of a nearby building. Well, not so much marching. Considering the heavy course loads they had all just finished over half of them looked more like they were shuffling along on the strength of their last cup of coffee. That much Madara could relate to.

“Which one’s your brother?”

“There! There he is! Hi Tobi!” 

Either Tobirama didn’t hear the cry from so far away or he was well practiced at ignoring such a fog horn of a voice but none of the faces that turned towards them had any sparks of recognition. From the audience there was mostly fond understanding. Most of the students that looked towards them just looked confused. It was kind of sad but Madara was pretty sure a lot of them had never seen anyone so enthusiastic about supporting their family before. Yuppie types, in his experience, weren’t really great at loving their kids.

He might have based that opinion mostly off his own estranged father. So sue him. 

“When they’re all dressed the same how am I supposed to tell them apart? I remember he’s got white hair.” Madara gave the massive group of black robed figures a half-hearted once over. “There’s got to be a dozen people in there with white hair.”

“That’s easy,” Hashirama said. “My Tobi is the best one!” 

“Alright, well, that doesn’t really help much but...you tried?”

Despite his friend’s utter lack of ability to describe one simple human face Madara did eventually figure out which one was Tobirama. Not that he had to put much deduction work in; all he needed to do was sit back and wait until eventually the name ‘Senju Tobirama’ was called and one of the white-hair-black-robe-graduation-cap people broke away from the rest to ponce across the stage with more grace than any disney forest animal could ever dream of. 

The distance between them was still too large to really make out any fine details but the one thing Madara picked up on had him scowling out of reflex, hunkering down in his seat with arms crossed while Hashirama practically vibrated out of his own skin trying to holler his pride for the world to hear. 

He’d gotten taller! That rat bastard of an albino must have had another growth spurt since they last saw each other. What the hell was it about Senju genes? Even from this far away Madara could tell he would barely pass the guy’s chin and there was just something fundamentally unfair about that. He was older! Didn’t he get to be taller than anybody? 

Izuna didn’t count. As the youngest brother it was his duty to stay short forever. 

Like the disgustingly emotional child he was, it took Hashirama several minutes after his brother had completely vacated the stage for him to finally sit down and heave a deep sigh, followed immediately by several quivering breaths. Madara dug in to one pocket and threw a tissue in his stupid face. He’d learned to carry those around years ago no matter where they were going after one too many of his shirts had been ruined for lack of anything else around to cry on. When it came to Hashirama emotions could attack at any time. And usually for the stupidest reasons. 

Waiting out the rest of the ceremony was somehow even more boring now that he wasn’t watching for anyone specific to walk across the stage. It seemed unfair to him that alphabetically ‘Senju’ was so far down the list that there was less than a quarter of the names left to call and somehow it all seemed to last four times as long as the rest of this stupid ceremony had. Finally, however, the entire audience was invited to stand for applause and Madara did so with a groan, shaking out his legs in the hopes that doing so would discretely wake up his ass, gone numb from sitting for too long. 

Hashirama turned to him with brilliant eyes the moment the ceremony was announced complete. 

“There’s more snacks and drinks in the hall over there,” he said. “I texted Tobi to meet us, come on!”

“I could go for another snack I guess.” Madara let himself be pulled through the crowd, grateful for once that his best friend was such a tree that people just stepped out of his way without question. His interest in heading across to the fancy hall looming over them may have had something to do with more than just filling his belly now but he saw no need to say so out loud. 

Once they were inside the sheer number of human beings here for today’s ceremony became much harder to ignore, trapped together between four walls that echoed the roar of a hundred different conversations back and forth until Madara was tempted to clap both hands over his ears. The semi-permanent scowl on his face deepened with every step they took, wading through the tight knit throng until at last Hashirama shot up on to his toes with excitement. 

“There! Look! Tobi, over here! Hey Tobi!” 

Madara sighed, pulling the ends of his hair away from the grasping fingers of someone’s poorly attended baby, then looked up when a shadow fell over him. Alright. So maybe coming here today had been a good decision. If nothing else it afforded him the chance to see this human adonis up close. 

Even with the traditionally ill-fitting graduation robe covering the finer details it was still easy to see that Tobirama had not only grown up, he’d grown up  _ good _ . The height difference between them was even more than Madara had guessed and the sharp lines of his face had settled in to something like chiseled marble over the years, less the young weasel his classmates used to call him and closer now to what one would expect to find on a magazine cover. He’d even had tattoos done that accentuated his cheeks plus one running down his chin and neck to disappear in line with the buttons of his shirt. To his utter horror, Madara’s first thought was how very much he wanted to trace those lines with his tongue. 

“Congratulations!” Hashirama crowed, throwing himself at his brother with wet eyes and a beaming smile. Tobirama, impossibly, withstood the storm of affection without so much as swaying on the spot. 

“Thank you Anija,” he rumbled, oblivious to the involuntary whine that slipped out from between Madara’s lips. Thank all the non existent gods for the noise in here covering such an embarrassing sound. It wasn’t fair. He already looked delicious, did he have to sound like a wet dream too?

“You remember my friend Madara, right? Were you surprised? Surprise! We wanted to come celebrate with you!” 

One pale brow lifted as Tobirama detangled himself from Hashirama’s embrace with enviable ease. “Hardly a surprise when you called me last night to tell me you were coming, though I appreciate the sentiment. Madara...yes, I remember. Hello Madara.”

“Nng.” Oh very good. Very intelligent. Such a good showing he was making of himself. 

“Your presence here is more of a surprise than my brother’s. It’s been quite some time.” 

“Guess so,” Madara grumbled. 

Tobirama cocked his head to one side. “And what are you doing with yourself these days, Madara?”

He was only being polite, something that age seemed to have added since he definitely wasn’t polite as a little kid, brain too fast for anyone else to keep up with and constantly exasperated that he needed to slow himself down. It was an improvement for sure. One that Madara should have appreciated. It certainly wasn’t his fault that he’d grown up to tick off every box on Madara’s list of things that were physically attractive. Still, the attitude was rising and emotions he’d never liked in himself were prickling and there was no stopping the defensive tone spitting its way out of his mouth. 

“Something more useful than where you’re headed, that’s for sure. Politics? Really? I never took you for the lazy sort.” Madara, with what little wisdom he had, very much wanted to hit himself even as the words escaped him. He didn’t blame Tobirama at all for lifting that second too-perfect brow. 

“I beg your pardon?”

“Everyone knows that politicians are all talk and no action, too caught up in looking all important and sounding all smart but they’re never really useful. Shame. You always had a good brain, too bad you’re gonna waste it cushioning your ass on the publics’ dollar.” 

“The only shame here”-oh but the fire in his voice would have been glorious all on its own even without the deep bass rumble of his voice-“is that you seem to have grown up with your head lodged inside your own asshole. If you think for one second that I intend to rest on my laurels then I invite you go fuck yourself with the sharpest stick you can find. The two of you used to talk big words about changing the word when we were all kids. Tell me, how many internships have you suffered through for the chance to do so? How many scholarships did you study for just to meet the right people and share your proposals with the right ears? Go on, Madara, tell me how many tax breaks you leveraged before you even made it all the way through university?” 

Madara swallowed thickly, barely feeling the pressure when Hashirama put a hand on his chest to separate the two of them. It definitely said something about him that he should be so aroused from getting such a thorough dressing down in public but he couldn’t bring himself to worry much about it. Not when he had more important things to concentrate on. Like the fact that he’d just fallen in love in the space of two minutes. 

“Sweet mother of fire,” he whispered. “Marry me.”

Both of the Senju brothers looked at him like he’d grown an extra limb. Hashirama coughed nervously, eyes flitting between them like a nervous rabbit. 

“Let’s all just calm down now, alright? Today is supposed to be a happy day!”

“Indeed it is. Thank you for coming, Anija. Perhaps you might make this a happier day for me by removing this trash from the premises.” With his final piece spoken Tobiraama lifted his nose in to the air and turned to walk away, striding through the crowd as easily as if the room were empty and exuding all the prim fussiness of someone who had spent a decade in the social minefield of politics already. 

Hashirama moaned dramatically and leapt after his sibling. “Wait, Tobi! Maddy didn’t mean it! Come back, we can all be friends!”

Several minutes passed in a haze before Madara even noticed that he was now standing alone in a room crowded with a bunch of uppity strangers, several of them staring at him as though worrying for his mental health. He couldn’t blame them. Not if the expression on his face was half as dazed as he felt. Considering how loud the place was it was somewhat of a miracle that he could still hear Hashirama’s voice booming from somewhere off to the left but he chose not to question his luck, only turned to float off in that direction, hoping Tobirama was still here. Following after them would almost definitely end with more insults being thrown at him.

And like the twisted man he was Madara could freely admit that he was looking forward to it. He’d never met anyone with half as much fire in them as Senju Tobirama. He wondered, dreamily, how long it was going to take him to convince the other man to take his proposal seriously. 


End file.
